Lamine Yamal strengthened his case as the Ballon d’Or frontrunner with a superb display during Spain’s 4-1 win over Croatia on Tuesday night.
The Barcelona winger scored twice and provided an assist as Spain made the perfect start to life in their new campaign, with the win extending their unbeaten run to 40 matches.
Yamal opened the scoring inside the opening minutes before adding Spain’s third goal after the break.
His first strike came after a move involving Alex Baena and Fermin Lopez left him with an opening inside the penalty area, with Yamal choosing to shoot towards the near post and catching goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic off guard.
Yamal explained afterwards that his familiarity with the Croatia goalkeeper helped him decide where to place the finish.
“I already know him from training, I have thought about training, about what he does and it has entered me,” Yamal said.
Yamal gives blunt Ballon d’Or answer
Yamal was asked whether his performance had provided another argument for him to win the Ballon d’Or, with the winger answering with two words.
“Another one.”
The vote for this year’s award has already closed, meaning Yamal’s latest performance will not have an impact on the result, but the 19-year-old insisted the individual prize is not driving his ambitions.
“In the end I don’t just play for this Ballon d’Or, I play for myself, for the fans, for next season, for my team, to continue winning,” Yamal said.
“I don’t know, I don’t vote, nor do I know who won, I don’t know anything. Let’s wait and keep playing.
“We are very excited to be able to bring the cup here and show it to the fans and be able to win and bring it home, great.
“We always have to come out plugged in, what the coach tells us, what we talk to each other and very happy for the victory,” Yamal said.
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